Everyone is running their own silent marathon
test results, job losses, divorce papers,
their past pounding like a headache,
yelling mirrors screaming comparison lies,
slamming doors behind picket fence dreams,
promises broken like skin around knives in their backs,
fears of unseen monsters lurking in a ticking clock,
us vs. them rage that scratches that itch to belong,
that dark cloud that weighs them down in bed each morning,
Their starting line one eyelid raised,
a move of the covers
or just a foot on the floor,
the finish line that same position
that same night, that same day,
a circle track that leaves them dizzy
I used to run away too.
I used to trudge through the day
one
step
at
a
time
I used to run away from home
until I found I was chasing You in the horizon,
stretched wide like the prodigal Father's arms
always waiting, watching, ready with a party,
my running steps, a lullaby rhythm
rocking my beehive brain to sleep
just enough to hear You whisper... I'm here.
Knees and hips stab bee stings from the hive
Nothing compared to nails through your hands and a spear in Your side
All so we could here you say...I'm here.
Then a community vision of marathon proportions
a finish line in 2016
a transformed community that knows You are here.
So...You whispered a calling
this not-soProverbs 31 woman will run 31 miles
for them, for a broken tired humanity,
that hits the Michiana pavement every morning
looking down in a concrete city that blocks their view
I will run by them, for them,
hoping they might look up long enough
to see You waiting on the Horizon
and start their run alongside me
straight into Your arms.
“The reason we race isn't so much to beat each other,... but to be with each other.”
― Christopher McDougall, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross,scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3
“I run because long after my footprints fade away, maybe I will have inspired a few to reject the easy path, hit the trails, put one foot in front of the other, and come to the same conclusion I did: I run because it always takes me where I want to go.”
― Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner
“Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think of what it might be. In running the mind flees with the body, the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with our feet and the swinging of our arms.”
― Joyce Carol Oates
"I listed all the reasons I was afraid that I could not finish the race. Then I said, "But Lord, if Your spirit runs through me, I will finish this race. With every breath in my lungs and all the strength in my muscles, I will keep going, only I can't do it without you. There's only one way to find out if I can finish this race, and thats to put my body out there and my unwavering faith in You. Lord, show me that You are with me." Scott Rigsby Unthinkable
"Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:25-27
